Saturday, 02 May 2015 15:36

Farmers warming to service hubs

Written by 
Fonterra’s new Farm Source hub opens in Southland. Fonterra’s new Farm Source hub opens in Southland.

About 9000 Fonterra farmers have so far bought goods and services via the co-op’s new Farm Source rewards scheme, earning $3 million in reward dollars.

Farm Source stores director Jason Minkhorst says fuel and electricity are among their purchases.

There are now three South Island stores – Methven and Culverden in Canterbury and new this month at Otautau in Southland.

The first North Island hub will open in Marton in the next few months.

Minkhorst says Farm Source supports farmers, offering them a convenient home base to use in town.

“We already have a network of rural retail stores we’re building on and expanding so farmers can access more support…. Before Otautau farmers needed to drive to Invercargill for supplies… or wait for the team to visit them.”

Otautau’s Farm Source store manager David Sinclair says the team there includes sales assistants, a technical sales representative and an area manager “who have a good understanding of the regional conditions, council regulations and what’s important to our farmers here”.

The store sells rural supplies and offers access to exclusive deals and facilities like meeting rooms, free wifi or drop-in space to make a coffee and relax.

Minkhorst says the roll-out of the Farm Source stores will happen over time. “We know things are tough… right now so are only making necessary improvements to our existing stores.”

More like this

LCAs tackle false narratives

The quest to measure, report and make sense of the energy that goes into food production has come a long way in the past 25 years.

$3b windfall?

Fonterra's proposed sale of its global consumer business could fetch over $3 billion but not all proceeds will end up in the pockets of farmer shareholders.

Mixed legacy

OPINION: You're never as good as when you're dead, and with due respect to Theo Spierings' family, the Hound can't let the death of the former Fonterra CEO pass without mentioning the parlous state he left Fonterra in when he exited in 2018 - having pocketed well north of $30 million over seven years.

Featured

LCAs tackle false narratives

The quest to measure, report and make sense of the energy that goes into food production has come a long way in the past 25 years.

OSPRI's costly software upgrade

Animal disease management agency OSPRI has announced sweeping governance changes as it seeks to recover from the expensive failure of a major software project.

Organic sector backtracks on GE

Organics Aotearoa New Zealand (OANZ) says the Government’s new gene editing and genetic modification reforms could leave New Zealand as an outlier on the global stage.

$3b windfall?

Fonterra's proposed sale of its global consumer business could fetch over $3 billion but not all proceeds will end up in the pockets of farmer shareholders.

National

MilkHub sold

Milk vat manufacturer DTS is selling its dairy automation business to MilktechNZ.

'Quite a journey'

Former Synlait chief executive Grant Watson says the past two years have been quite the journey.

DairyNZ levy to increase?

Retiring chair Jim van der Poel has used his final AGM to announce the intention to increase the DairyNZ farmer…

Machinery & Products

Milk Sustainability Centre launched

The recently announced Milk Sustainability Centre – a collaboration between global giant John Deere and milking and feed specialists De…

Data connection made easier

New Holland and Case IH are introducing new advancements in their precision technology stack to make farming easier and more…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Virtual fence probe

OPINION: Should there be an inquiry into virtual fencing technology for cows?

Time to reset

OPINION: New Zealand needs a rethink about how banks allocate capital.

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter